Raze stared at the Grandmaster Low rank beast, mind working through tactical options with cold calculation. The creature's intelligent eyes tracked him with predatory focus that suggested it had identified him as the primary threat requiring elimination.

But it wasn't attacking yet.

Instead, the massive lion-dragon hybrid was doing something far more dangerous. Its presence radiated outward, some form of command or influence washing over the remaining horde beasts. And they were responding.

The creatures that had been attacking multiple points along the defensive perimeter began disengaging, pulling back from Helena's eastern position, abandoning their northern flanking attempts, withdrawing from scattered probing attacks. They were consolidating, reforming into a single concentrated mass.

All aimed directly at Raze's position.

"It's directing them," Fedora's voice came through the Communication Hub, her Precognition clearly showing her the pattern forming. "The Grandmaster is using the horde as a weapon focused on you specifically."

Raze's jaw tightened slightly. The creature had recognized that he was the primary force disrupting the horde's assault, and rather than engage him directly where his abilities might create complications, it was sending overwhelming numbers to crush him through attrition.

Smart. Dangerously smart.

He reached inward instinctively, searching for Asura's presence. The ancient entity had been quiet since arriving at the Academy, barely a whisper at the back of his consciousness. Now there was nothing except that faint hum confirming existence without any active engagement.

No merger state available. No access to the demonic authority and combined power they could wield together.

This was just him. Master Low rank cultivation, his awakened Empyrean Sovereign bloodline, and the techniques he'd drilled into himself through months of relentless training.

The reformed horde was moving now, two hundred plus beasts abandoning all other objectives to charge his position in a concentrated wave. Master rank threats scattered throughout, Expert rank forming the bulk, all of them driven by the Grandmaster's will to overwhelm through sheer numbers.

Raze's voice cut through the Communication Hub. "All positions, disengage and fall back to the interior defensive line. Do not engage the main horde. I'm handling this."

"Raze, that's over two hundred beasts!" Fedora's protest carried genuine alarm.

"That's an order." His tone left no room for argument. "Pull everyone back. Take out stragglers that get past me, but the main force is mine."

A pause, then her voice came back with reluctant acceptance. "Acknowledged. All units, fall back to secondary positions."

Around the perimeter, his kingdom members began withdrawing toward the central structures. Some moved reluctantly, clearly uncertain about leaving their leader to face overwhelming odds alone. Others trusted his judgment enough to execute the order without hesitation.

The horde was fifty meters out now and accelerating. The ground shook under hundreds of charging beasts, their combined mass creating thunder that drowned out individual sounds.

Raze drew a breath, centering himself. His bloodline stirred, that awakened power flowing through meridians that had been fundamentally altered when Asura broke the first seal. His mismatched eyes tracked the approaching wave, one blue and one crimson.

"Bephe," he said quietly. "With me. Slith, stay with Fedora."

The prehistoric predator rumbled acknowledgment, expanding to full combat size beside his master.

Thirty meters.

Raze moved forward to meet them, and his body exploded into motion.

Void Step carried him directly into the horde's leading edge, spatial displacement making him appear among them before they could react. His katana flashed, the blade moving so fast it seemed to leave afterimages in the air. Three throats opened simultaneously, Expert rank beasts dropping without making a sound.

He flowed forward, his Empyrean Sovereign bloodline flooding his body with power that made his Master Low rank feel like a formality rather than a limitation. Another Void Step, appearing behind a cluster of five Expert Peak beasts. His blade swept through them in a single continuous arc, mana-enhanced edge shearing through flesh and bone like they offered no more resistance than water.

A Master Low rank beast lunged at him, jaws wide enough to remove his head. Raze's hand shot up, catching the creature's snout mid-attack. His bloodline surged, raw strength that shouldn't exist at his cultivation rank letting him arrest the beast's momentum completely. His katana punched upward through soft tissue under its jaw, penetrating the brain. It went limp instantly.

He released it and kept moving, never staying in one place long enough for the horde to coordinate against him.

Void Step. Four meters right. His katana removed a beast's foreleg, the creature collapsing as it tried to charge. Another strike ended it before it could struggle.

The horde was trying to surround him but his spatial displacement made that impossible. He appeared and disappeared through their ranks like a vengeful spirit, each manifestation leaving more corpses in his wake.

Two Expert Mid rank beasts attacked from opposite sides, trying to pin him between them. Raze triggered Void Step vertically, appearing three meters above their converging attacks. His katana plunged downward as gravity pulled him back to earth, the blade punching through one beast's skull with his falling momentum behind it. He landed in a crouch, pulled his weapon free, and pivoted to open the second beast's throat in the same fluid motion.

Bephe was creating absolute havoc on the horde's flank, prehistoric fury tearing through Expert rank beasts like they were made of straw. The creature's Demigod potential showed clearly when a Master Mid rank beast tried to challenge him and got its head torn off for the audacity.

From the defensive line, Raze's kingdom members watched in something approaching religious awe.

"He's not fighting them," Helena whispered. "He's butchering them. There's a difference."

Darius couldn't look away. His analytical mind was trying to categorize what he was seeing, trying to understand how someone at Master Low rank could move like that, fight like that, kill like that. Every principle of cultivation he'd been taught said this shouldn't be possible.

Fedora's Precognition was showing her futures where Raze continued this devastating assault, and in every timeline she saw the same thing: systematic slaughter that the horde couldn't counter. Her hands gripped the Watchtower's railing tight enough that her knuckles went white.

"What are you?" she murmured to herself, though she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

Raze's katana continued its deadly work, the blade never stopping, never slowing. A Master Low rank beast tried to tackle him from behind. He sensed it coming without turning, his bloodline's enhanced perception showing him threats from all angles. Void Step carried him three meters forward, letting the beast's momentum carry it past his previous position. He pivoted and removed its head before it could recover.

Three Expert Peak beasts attacked in coordination, their movements suggesting pack tactics rather than individual aggression. Raze's response was brutal efficiency incarnate. Void Step placed him in the center of their triangle formation. His katana flashed three times in rapid succession, each strike finding a throat, and all three collapsed simultaneously.

The bodies were piling up now, creating obstacles that the living beasts had to navigate around. It only made them easier targets, forced into predictable paths that Raze exploited ruthlessly.

An Expert rank beast lunged at him. His free hand shot out, catching it by the throat mid-leap. His bloodline-enhanced strength let him hold the creature suspended despite its thrashing, claws scraping uselessly against his arm. His katana swept up in a rising cut that opened it from sternum to jaw. He released it and it fell in two pieces.

Void Step. Five meters back. A cluster of four Master Low rank beasts was trying to coordinate an assault. He appeared among them before they could execute their plan, katana moving in a blinding series of strikes that left all four bleeding out before they understood what had happened.

The horde's numbers were diminishing, but slowly. There were just so many of them, wave after wave of teeth and claws and bestial fury. But Raze never stopped moving, never slowed down, never showed any sign of fatigue. His bloodline kept him going, kept his muscles fresh, kept his mind sharp even as the carnage mounted.

A Master Mid rank beast charged him, its bulk suggesting it planned to simply bowl him over through superior mass. Raze met the charge head-on, Void Step carrying him directly into the creature's path. His katana swept horizontally at neck height as they passed each other, mana-enhanced edge biting deep through muscle and vertebrae. The beast's momentum carried it past him before its brain registered that it was dead, its body collapsing ten meters beyond where they'd crossed.

He spun, katana coming around in continuation of the same motion to decapitate an Expert rank beast that had tried to attack from behind. Not a heartbeat wasted between kills.

"There's something wrong with him," someone in the defensive line said, voice carrying equal parts fear and awe. "People don't move like that. Don't fight like that."

"Shut up and be grateful he's on our side," another voice snapped back.

Raze triggered another Void Step, appearing in the thickest concentration of remaining beasts. His katana became a blur of lethal silver, cutting through throats and spines and limbs with mechanical precision. Blood sprayed but never touched him, his positioning unconsciously perfect to avoid being painted by the gore his blade was creating.

An Expert Peak beast lunged at his exposed back. He pivoted without looking, katana sweeping behind him to bisect the creature mid-leap. The two halves fell on either side of him.

Another Master Low rank threat charged. Raze's blade found its eye socket, punching through orbital bone into the brain. It collapsed instantly.

Void Step. Three meters left. Two Expert Mid rank beasts trying to flank. His katana flashed twice, removing both their heads in quick succession.

The rhythm was relentless, hypnotic almost. Appear, strike, kill, displace. Appear, strike, kill, displace. Over and over, the pattern repeating hundreds of times as the horde's numbers slowly decreased through his systematic slaughter.

Bephe's roar echoed across the battlefield as the prehistoric predator brought down another Master Mid rank beast, jaws clamping down on its spine with force that shattered bone like glass.

Raze vaulted over a fallen corpse, using the obstacle to gain elevation. His katana swept down through a beast's skull as he passed over it, landing smoothly on the other side to immediately engage three more threats.

His bloodline was singing now, power flooding through him in waves that made his strikes hit harder, made his movements faster, made the impossible slaughter feel almost easy. This was what the Empyrean Sovereign bloodline meant. This was the power that had made the gods fear his ancestors enough to try exterminating the entire lineage.

A Master Mid rank beast with stone-like hide charged at him, clearly confident its natural armor would protect it. Raze's katana found the gaps between armored plates with surgical precision, the blade sliding through soft tissue to sever major arteries. The creature took three more steps before blood loss dropped it.

Void Step carried him over a cluster of corpses to land in clear space where five Expert Peak beasts were trying to regroup. They died before they could finish organizing, his katana opening five throats in a continuous flowing movement that looked more like dance than combat.

The horde was thinning visibly now, numbers that had seemed overwhelming slowly being whittled down through relentless, systematic killing. But there were still dozens left, still enough to pose genuine threat if they could coordinate or if Raze made a mistake.

He didn't make mistakes.

A beast lunged from his periphery. His katana intercepted it mid-leap, blade punching through its open mouth to emerge from the back of its skull. He twisted the weapon and pulled it free, using the corpse's falling momentum to redirect it into another beast's path.

Void Step. Six meters forward. A Master Low rank beast was trying to circle around toward his kingdom's defensive line. He materialized directly in its path, katana already moving in strike that opened it from shoulder to opposite hip. It collapsed in a spray of blood and internal organs.

Another Expert rank beast charged. His blade removed its front legs, dropping it face-first into the dirt. A follow-up strike severed its spine before it could struggle.

The carnage continued, Raze carving through the horde with methodical efficiency that never wavered. His breathing remained controlled despite the extended combat. His movements never slowed. His strikes never lost their precision.

This was mastery. This was what happened when exceptional talent combined with awakened bloodline power and months of brutal training under a Grandmaster's instruction. This was what made someone exceptional rather than merely adequate.

Bephe had circled around to drive scattered beasts back toward Raze's position, prehistoric instincts understanding that concentrated enemies were easier for his master to handle than scattered ones.

A Master Mid rank beast tried to break through toward the kingdom's central structures, recognizing that direct engagement with Raze was suicide. Void Step carried him into its path before it made five meters. His katana found the base of its skull, severing the brain stem. It crashed to the ground, dead weight skidding forward from momentum before coming to rest.

The horde's numbers continued dropping. Dozens became tens. But even as the numbers decreased, the remaining beasts seemed to grow more desperate, more aggressive, as if recognizing this was their final chance to accomplish whatever objective had been programmed into them.

Three Master Low rank beasts coordinated an assault, attacking Raze from three different angles simultaneously. Void Step carried him vertically again, appearing four meters above their converging attacks. His katana lashed out three times as gravity pulled him back down, each strike opening a major artery on a different beast. He landed among them as they collapsed, already pivoting to engage the next threat.

An Expert Peak beast with elongated fangs dripping venom tried to bite him. His free hand caught its jaw, bloodline-enhanced strength letting him hold it immobile despite its thrashing. His katana swept across, removing its head cleanly. The body continued struggling for several seconds before finally going still.

More beasts charged. More beasts died. The pattern continued without variation, Raze's efficiency never diminishing despite the sustained combat.

From the Watchtower, Fedora's Precognition was showing her the immediate future, and what she saw made her breath catch. The timelines were converging toward a single point, a moment of genuine danger that even Raze's capabilities might not overcome.

"Raze!" she shouted through the Communication Hub. "The Grandmaster is moving!"

The words had barely left her mouth when the massive lion-dragon hybrid finally stirred from its observing position at the forest line.

The Grandmaster's flames erupted into an inferno, heat washing across the battlefield with intensity that made the air shimmer. Its intelligent eyes locked onto Raze with predatory focus that promised this engagement would be nothing like the horde slaughter.

Then it moved, and the ground shook under its first step forward.

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